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Thread: Moody Blues

  1. #51
    Member Koreabruce's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    What do people make of the Isle Of Wight 1970 release?
    It's an interesting snapshot of a concert, but it's a little rough to these ears, performance-wise. I still like it well enough, but even the somewhat dodgy performances on Caught Live + 5 are a sight better than Isle of Wight. Or maybe it's a toss-up between them. You do get some cool tracks on IoW that aren't on the former. Then again, to be brutally honest, I've never heard a live recording of an entire classic Moody Blues show that I personally thought was outstanding. The vocal harmonies in particular can be somewhat jarring at times. Someone should've told John Lodge to step back a couple of feet or so from the mic on those high harmonies!

  2. #52
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    ^Agreed. I think it's the only colour live footage of this line-up which lends it a historical importance. But I thought the then-new songs were especially rough.

    Another issue is those Isle Of Wight recordings are so dry. They might as well be soundboards!

  3. #53
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    Yes, it is way too dry. I just re-listened to a few tracks. Sheesh... "Tortoise and the Hare" sounds like a trainwreck precipitated by runaway mellotron! And as far as that particular song goes, I've always thought the vocal harmonies on the studio version were iffy: "While you were sleeping / He went on keeping / The final light in his eyyyyye eye-eyyyyye-eye-eyyyyye-eye-eyyyyye-eye..." etc.

  4. #54
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    There's times when listening to classic era Moodies' live recordings when I think they should never have stepped foot outside the studio. But then I hear stuff where they do a pretty good job. The Isle of Wight and Live +5 are more in the former category IMO.
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

  5. #55
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    So which are the good performances to your ears? I'm keen to know.

    I know there are a few extra live things added to the most recent remasters, i.e. Top Gear stuff on ISotLC and BBC tracks on TOCCC, but many of those are from identical or nearly identical setlists to what's on Caught Live + 5.

  6. #56
    Check out the live BBC release. They sound pretty great for the most part. It's an essential release.
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  7. #57
    Agreed on the BBC release. That is excellent.

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  8. #58
    Member Paulrus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Check out the live BBC release. They sound pretty great for the most part. It's an essential release.
    Yeah, I've heard some of that stuff that was included as bonus tracks on reissues a while back. But also if you look on YouTube there's been more old live stuff popping up and some of it is also pretty good.

    They were definitely pushing the limits of what 1960s live sound systems and concert operations could handle, what with Pinder's Mellotron, Thomas' flute and Hayward's softer acoustic-y guitar work. You get the sense that most of the time the idea of someone providing a live mix was just an alien concept back then. And since they often appeared as number X of whatever 10 band show it was that day they probably rarely even got a sound check.
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

  9. #59
    in absence of recent albums by moodies have been investigating solo records. began with from mighty oaks by ray thomas. this much better than expected. track adam and i is lovely.

    bought john lodge solo album. a bit short, only eight songs. dvd has him talking. some live in the studio songs would have been better. great guitar on album by chris spedding. a good choice by lodge. first track in my mind's eye and title track ten thousand miles from home are best by long way. rest ok but can be a bit twee like song simply magic. lodge say in interview looks to future not past but album is about his past and includes song about birmingham where he grew up.

    magazine record collector has good feature on moodies. doesnt like record sleeves. graeme edge says how his friends helped him with songs.

    listening all the time to moodies at moment. heard justin hayward track western sky which is very beautiful. so got album of that name. something to look forward to this afternoon, not a tuesday afternoon though.

  10. #60
    Quote Originally Posted by Iris View Post
    in absence of recent albums by moodies have been investigating solo records. began with from mighty oaks by ray thomas. this much better than expected. track adam and i is lovely.

    bought john lodge solo album. a bit short, only eight songs. dvd has him talking. some live in the studio songs would have been better. great guitar on album by chris spedding. a good choice by lodge. first track in my mind's eye and title track ten thousand miles from home are best by long way. rest ok but can be a bit twee like song simply magic. lodge say in interview looks to future not past but album is about his past and includes song about birmingham where he grew up.

    magazine record collector has good feature on moodies. doesnt like record sleeves. graeme edge says how his friends helped him with songs.

    listening all the time to moodies at moment. heard justin hayward track western sky which is very beautiful. so got album of that name. something to look forward to this afternoon, not a tuesday afternoon though.
    Blue Jays by Hayward and Lodge is pretty decent as well.

  11. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by Jubal View Post
    Blue Jays by Hayward and Lodge is pretty decent as well.
    Yep, it's great. In fact, I just heard a recording of Justin's tour from last week and he actually opened with "This Morning."
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  12. #62
    perhaps should have begun exploration of solo moodies with blue jays album. have now heard most of it. wouldnt have without having attention drawn to it by contributors on this forum. anyway its very melodic. justin hayward seems to be the major influence on it.

    have also listened this afternoon to new purchase of spirits of the western sky. seems very much what blue jays album would have been expected to lead to forty years later. like title track so very much. it really is gorgeous.

  13. #63
    they are playing not too far from me next tour should I go? not too familiar but given all the death lately I am trying to take my opportunities when they come rather than regretting later if I get more into their music in a few years and it is too late.

  14. #64
    Been listening to a lot of Moodies lately. Can't help but feel they are simply not given the due they most certainly deserve by a community supposedly formed as discussion forum for prog rock.

    These guys had the goods in so many ways. DOFP has important elements and influences that carried forward to particularly to King Crimson and Genesis. I'm inclined to think that progressive rock as many define it wouldn't have even come about without these guys.

    But what blows me away much more is just how great their songs were. The amount of material on those first seven albums and even some of the "lost" stuff on Side 4 of the live album is other-worldly great. Fantastic, well arranged songs with simply incredible hooks, emotional depth and excellent production.

    What a band.

  15. #65
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    Been listening to a lot of Moodies lately. Can't help but feel they are simply not given the due they most certainly deserve by a community supposedly formed as discussion forum for prog rock.
    I dunno... While I agree there's not always unanimity about what albums are the best, I think there's general agreement that they were an important band and a stepping stone to classic prog groups like KC and Yes. In my mind they were the prototype for the prog 5-piece lineup of vox, guitar, bass, keys & drums.

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    But what blows me away much more is just how great their songs were. The amount of material on those first seven albums and even some of the "lost" stuff on Side 4 of the live album is other-worldly great. Fantastic, well arranged songs with simply incredible hooks, emotional depth and excellent production.
    Agreed. I had "It's Up To You" going through my head earlier today. What a great fucking song.
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

  16. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by Paulrus View Post
    I dunno... While I agree there's not always unanimity about what albums are the best, I think there's general agreement that they were an important band and a stepping stone to classic prog groups like KC and Yes. In my mind they were the prototype for the prog 5-piece lineup of vox, guitar, bass, keys & drums.
    "Peak Hour" was probably as important to Genesis as "Evening" was to King Crimson.

    Maybe I'm misreading the thread, but some comments strike me as a bit dismissive of this great band. I certainly hope it's not because developing and showcasing "chops" was low on their list of priorities.

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paulrus View Post
    I think there's general agreement that they were an important band and a stepping stone to classic prog groups like KC and Yes. In my mind they were the prototype for the prog 5-piece lineup of vox, guitar, bass, keys & drums.
    All true, but I never considered them a true prog-Rock band due to the straightforward, basic rhythm section. They were like a precursor, pointing the way, but not getting there. I always liked them just the same.

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    All true, but I never considered them a true prog-Rock band due to the straightforward, basic rhythm section. They were like a precursor, pointing the way, but not getting there. I always liked them just the same.
    No, I agree. I've always considered the Moodies one of the most important and foundational proto-prog bands, along with The Nice, Soft Machine, Zappa and Pink Floyd (all of whom it could be argued were true prog bands even back in the 60s, but that's a subject for a different thread (and has been!))
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

  19. #69
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    I think they were a pioneering band in many ways that they don't get credit for. To name two, they were one of the first pop/rock groups who clearly prioritised stereo (this is something even The Beatles didn't really care too much about). Right from back in 1967, the band and their production team (Tony Clarke, Derek Varnals etc.) clearly put a lot of effort into well-balanced, realistic-sounding mixes, as opposed to the 'thrown together in the lunch hour' style more typical of the 60s, particularly in the UK. Stereo eventually became the standard a few years later.

    DOFP is also one of the first conceptual, 'song cycle' pop/rock albums with a start-and-finish narrative structure. Yet I note that the album isn't listed here at all, how can that be??

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_album
    Last edited by JJ88; 03-11-2017 at 02:50 AM.

  20. #70
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    Maybe I'm misreading the thread, but some comments strike me as a bit dismissive of this great band. I certainly hope it's not because developing and showcasing "chops" was low on their list of priorities.
    I suppose it has something to do with that... None of us would place any of the five classic line-up Moodies in any top 20 or even top 50 instrumentalist
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  21. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    "Peak Hour" was probably as important to Genesis as "Evening" was to King Crimson.

    Maybe I'm misreading the thread, but some comments strike me as a bit dismissive of this great band. I certainly hope it's not because developing and showcasing "chops" was low on their list of priorities.
    I think it has more to do with what they did in the 80s and beyond that is tainting people's view of their genuine impact and groundbreaking work. Seems kinda like Genesis when you think about it.
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  22. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    I think it has more to do with what they did in the 80s and beyond that is tainting people's view of their genuine impact and groundbreaking work. Seems kinda like Genesis when you think about it.
    Clearly happened to Yes as well.... But Genesis & Yes don't seem to suffer our lack of recognition as TMB do.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  23. #73
    judging by recent solo albums might be just as well that there are no moodies albums nowadays. imagine john lodge song simply magic on a moodies lp. or justin haywards go at country rock which can be found on western sky album. it is a strange old thing is that album. at end there is out there somewhere which is i know youre out there somewhere reinvented as dance song and it goes on for weeks. too much to expect a watching and waiting at this stage but title track western sky might be called its linear descendant.

  24. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    I think it has more to do with what they did in the 80s and beyond that is tainting people's view of their genuine impact and groundbreaking work. Seems kinda like Genesis when you think about it.
    Not sure about this. The extent to which people here will maintain interest in "prog" bands also involved with commercial cheese of the highest order is positively mind boggling.

    I think it's far more likely the "chops" factor. Ironic, really, because if pushed to choose I might take the Moodies first seven over the first seven of just about any of the "big five, six, whatever ..." because the peaks of the songwriting are just so damn high. And one might surmise that in popular music this would be the most important element.

  25. #75
    Quote Originally Posted by Paulrus View Post
    In my mind they were the prototype for the prog 5-piece lineup of vox, guitar, bass, keys & drums.

    Could credit the Zombies for that as well. First English band I can think of where the keyboardist was the star instrumentalist.

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